Department of Mental Disorder Research, National Institute of Neuroscience, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, 4-1-1, Ogawa-Higashi, Kodaira, Tokyo 187-8502, Japan; Department of Neuropsychiatry, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1, Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8576, Japan.
National Center for Cognitive Behavior Therapy and Research, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, 4-1-1, Ogawa-Higashi, Kodaira, Tokyo 187-8502, Japan.
Psychiatry Res Neuroimaging. 2020 Sep 30;303:111124. doi: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2020.111124. Epub 2020 Jun 12.
Arterial spin labeling (ASL) magnetic resonance imaging is a novel technique that can measure regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF). Here we used pseudo-continuous ASL (pCASL) to examine the structural and functional imaging data in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). We estimated the gray matter volume imaging and pCASL imaging data by means of a voxel-by-voxel statistical analysis. We evaluated the differences of rCBF and gray matter volume between the OCD patients and healthy subjects. We detected a significant rCBF reduction in OCD patients in the right posterior cingulate extending to the lingual gyrus, thalamus, and hippocampus, and a significant increase in the left temporal gyrus and left frontal white matter region, compared with healthy subjects. We also observed a significant reduction in gray matter volume of OCD patients in the right hippocampus. We also estimated the correlation between the clinical severity of OCD and the rCBF and gray matter volumes, and found significant negative correlations between the severity of illness and the regional gray matter volume in the bilateral anterior cingulate corti. Our study demonstrated significant changes of rCBF in the cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical pathway around the hippocampus in OCD patients. These findings may help to elucidate the pathogenesis of OCD.
动脉自旋标记（ASL）磁共振成像是一种可以测量局部脑血流（rCBF）的新技术。在这里，我们使用伪连续 ASL（pCASL）来检查强迫症（OCD）患者的结构和功能成像数据。我们通过体素的统计分析来估计灰质体积成像和 pCASL 成像数据。我们评估了 OCD 患者与健康受试者之间 rCBF 和灰质体积的差异。与健康受试者相比，我们发现 OCD 患者右侧后扣带回延伸到舌回、丘脑和海马的 rCBF 明显减少，左侧颞叶和左侧额叶白质区域的 rCBF 明显增加。我们还观察到 OCD 患者右侧海马灰质体积明显减少。我们还估计了 OCD 严重程度与 rCBF 和灰质体积之间的相关性，发现双侧前扣带回皮质的疾病严重程度与局部灰质体积之间存在显著的负相关。我们的研究表明，OCD 患者海马周围皮质纹状体丘脑皮质回路的 rCBF 发生了显著变化。这些发现可能有助于阐明 OCD 的发病机制。
